Festive Pictures
by cleotheo
Summary: As the Malfoys gather to take their annual Christmas picture, Narcissa shares some of the older pictures and some memories with her granddaughter, Lyra. Festive one-shot starring the Malfoy family.


**A/N - Welcome to the first of my Christmas stories. I just want to make it clear that even though this is marked as a Dramione the couple only play a small part in the story. I just wanted to make it clear that Draco and Hermione were together in this story so people didn't read it and complain about the pairing. Even with the minimum Dramione I still hope people enjoy this festive offering.**

* * *

Lyra Malfoy, watched with amusement as her mother, Hermione, ordered her husband, Draco, and son, Scorpius, to move the giant Christmas tree from its usual place in the corner of the room to beside the large window. The family were preparing to take their annual Christmas picture, which would grace the Christmas cards they were sending out, and at the last minute, Hermione had decided that she wanted to change things to include the festive snowfall that had taken everyone by surprise that morning.

"I don't get what's wrong with the way we had things," Draco grumbled.

"But it's snowing," Hermione repeated. "If we move the tree to in front of the window, we'll capture the snow in our picture. It'll look even more festive."

"Because a Christmas tree isn't festive enough," Draco muttered, sharing an eye-roll with his son.

Knowing that Hermione would need plenty more time before everything was perfect enough for the picture to be taken, Lyra wandered off in search of the rest of the family. She was fairly sure she would find her grandfather, Lucius, in his study, and she was equally sure she would find her sister-in-law, Lily, in the nursery with her newborn son, Leo. However, she had no idea where her grandmother could be, so it was Narcissa she looked for first.

During her travels, Lyra actually found both Lucius and Lily, exactly where she thought she would find them both. However, Narcissa wasn't in any of her usual haunts and Lyra was just about to ask her grandfather for help when she came across her grandmother sitting beside the window in the library, an ornate box cradled in her lap.

"There you are," Lyra cried. "I've been looking for you. Although I could have sworn, I'd already checked in here."

"I've just arrived," Narcissa said, smiling at her beautiful granddaughter.

"What you've got in the box?" Lyra asked, hoping it was something to do with the family history. Lyra loved exploring the past, and Narcissa had always been on hand to make sure she knew the history of her family.

"Cards," Narcissa said, popping open the lid of the box. "It's every Christmas card the Malfoys have ever posed for. I add to it every year."

"Can I see?" Lyra asked, eager to see when the tradition had started.

"Do we have time?" Narcissa checked. "I don't want to be late for the picture. Your mother would not be happy."

"She's making Dad and Scorpius move the tree so we can get the view from the window," Lyra informed her grandmother. "It'll be at least another half hour before they're ready for us."

"What a wonderful idea," Narcissa remarked. "It looks so lovely when the grounds are covered in snow. It'll be a wonderful addition to the picture."

"You and Mum are so alike," Lyra chuckled. Her mother and grandmother may not have been related by blood, but they were very similar witches and were very close.

"That's why we get on so well," Narcissa replied with a smile. She'd never hid the fact she adored Hermione and thought of her as the daughter she'd never been lucky enough to have.

"Can I see in the box?" Lyra asked, turning her attention back to the box on her grandmother's lap.

"Of course," Narcissa replied, carefully pulling out the card at the very front of the box and passing it to her granddaughter. "This is the first time the Malfoys used pictures on cards."

Lyra took the card and gazed at the picture on the front. The picture was of a young man and a stunning young woman. The man was obviously a Malfoy as he had the same platinum blond hair and grey eyes all Malfoy men had. The woman had light brown hair, and as her lips curled up into a smile, Lyra was reminded of her grandfather. Although to be fair it wasn't a surprise that she was reminded of Lucius when she looked at the couple as she knew for a fact she was looking at her great-grandparents, Abraxas and Elsa.

"They look so happy," Lyra whispered, watching as the couple looked at each other and smiles lit up their faces.

"This was taken just months after they married," Narcissa informed her granddaughter. "The picture was Elsa's idea. I don't think Abraxas would have agreed if anyone but her had suggested it."

"So like all Malfoy men, he was hopelessly in love with his wife," Lyra said with a smile.

"He was," Narcissa agreed with a chuckle. "It's a nice trait to run in the family."

"It is," Lyra agreed. "So the pictures began because great-grandpa Abraxas couldn't say no to his wife. That's so sweet."

Agreeing with her granddaughter, Narcissa plucked out another two cards with just Abraxas and Elsa on the picture. However, on the second card Elsa had a very visible baby bump and both she and Abraxas's hands were resting on her protruding stomach. And then Narcissa plucked out the next card, which showed a baby Lucius in his mother's arms, waving his arms excitedly.

"Grandpa was so cute," Lyra cooed.

"He gets cuter," Narcissa laughed, pulling out another batch of cards, each showing Lucius as a child.

Lyra chuckled at the pictures as she witnessed her grandfather growing from a baby into a toddler and then into a small boy. In each picture, Lyra could see the resemblance to both her father and brother. The apple didn't fall far from the tree when it came to the Malfoy men, and she was betting Leo was going to be another typical Malfoy wizard.

"These are so lovely," Lyra remarked, passing the last card her grandmother had handed her back. "I can't wait to see what Grandpa looked like as a teenager."

"I'm afraid this is the last one with Lucius as a child," Narcissa said, handing her granddaughter one more card, where Lucius looked to be around six on the picture.

"Why?" Lyra asked. "And why do I feel sad when I look at this picture? Everyone is smiling, but it doesn't reach their eyes."

"Elsa would have been ill at the time," Narcissa said, taking back the picture and stroking her finger over the boyish face of the wizard she loved. "Both she and Abraxas knew her illness was terminal. They didn't tell Lucius at first, but he was a smart child and he'd picked up that something was wrong. Less than four months after this picture was taken, Elsa was dead."

"How sad," Lyra whispered. She'd always know her grandfather's mother had died when he was younger, but she hadn't realised he'd just been a child when he lost his mother.

"It devastated Abraxas," Narcissa said. "Lucius always said he was never the same after losing Elsa. He put an end to the pictures after she died. In fact, he pretty much stopped celebrating Christmas. Lucius would get a few presents, but there would be no tree and no festivities."

"What changed?" Lyra asked. "Because we've been doing the picture for as long as I can remember, and it's always referred to as a tradition."

"I changed it all," Narcissa said, handing her granddaughter the next card in the line.

The picture on the new card showed a young Lucius and Narcissa, standing with their arms wrapped around each other beside a large Christmas tree. Standing on the other side of the tree stood a sombre Abraxas and Lyra couldn't help but notice the light which had been present in his eyes in the earlier pictures had gone.

"Great-grandpa Abraxas doesn't look very happy," she remarked to her grandmother.

"He wasn't," Narcissa said with a slight chuckle. "Lucius had already told me about the tradition when we were courting, so I decided that the first year I was a Malfoy I was going to resurrect the idea. Abraxas wasn't at all keen at first, but I used my charms on him."

"I didn't realise he was affected by your charms," Lyra said.

"Abraxas was never the easiest of men, and his relationship with Lucius was often strained, but somehow I'd wheedled my way into his heart," Narcissa confessed. "I don't know if it was because I reminded him of Elsa in some way, or if like me with your mother, he viewed me as the daughter he never had. But either way, I was often able to persuade him into doing things he would have otherwise said no to. The resurrection of the pictures was one of those things."

Pulling out the next handful of cards, Narcissa showed Lyra the series of pictures that had been taken over the course of her first few years as a Malfoy. Lyra noted that in each picture her grandparents looked very happy and very in love, but Abraxas always looked so solemn. It made her sad to look at her great-grandfather, and she wondered if he stopped smiling completely after he'd lost his wife.

"And then this is your father's debut," Narcissa said, handing over a new card.

"No pregnancy picture?" Lyra checked, looking again at the final picture and seeing no sign that her grandmother had been expecting her father.

"I didn't actually find out I was pregnant until a few weeks after the picture was taken," Narcissa said. "And then your father was born in June."

Turning her attention to the first picture which contained her father, Lyra couldn't help but smile. Narcissa was cradling a six month old Draco in her arms, while Lucius and Abraxas was standing behind her, gazing down at the Malfoy heir. However, what made Lyra smile was the fact that for the first picture since his wife had died, Abraxas was smiling. The light had returned to his eyes as he gazed lovingly at his grandson.

"He's smiling," she whispered.

"And in every picture after," Narcissa said, not needing Lyra to specify who was smiling.

The next batch of pictures showed Draco growing up, and in all of them, Abraxas was smiling and looked happy to be part of the pictures. The pictures went all the way up until Draco was around nine or ten, and then came the first picture without Abraxas.

"That was the year before Draco started Hogwarts," Narcissa explained. "Abraxas had died a few months before. Draco was devastated as he adored his grandfather."

"It looked to be mutal," Lyra commented.

"It was," Narcissa agreed. "These are the pictures from when your father was in Hogwarts. There are a couple of years he's not in them as he stayed at school a few times."

Lyra flicked through the pictures, chuckling fondly as the small boy with the cocky smirk grew taller, stopped wearing hair gel and started to turn into the wizard she recognised as her father.

"And then of course, your mother came into the picture," Narcissa said, showing Lyra a few more pictures without Hermione, before passing her one when Hermione had become a Malfoy in her early twenties.

"Mum and Dad look so happy," Lyra commented. Although to be fair, she couldn't remember a time her parents hadn't been happy together. They did sometimes argue, but even then the love they had for each other shone through and they always made up with each other.

"They've always been happy," Narcissa remarked with a smile.

There were only two pictures of Hermione as a Malfoy before Lyra's brother put in an appearance. Since Scorpius had been born in November, there was no picture of Hermione expecting him. He just suddenly appeared one year as a bouncing baby, chewing on his fist as everyone smiled widely at him.

"Scorpius was a proper little show-off," Lyra laughed, looking at the early pictures where her brother stole the show every time, either by toppling over into the tree or drawing attention to himself by waving his hands in the air or jumping up and down.

"He's always liked posing for the camera," Narcissa chuckled. She had albums full of pictures of her grandson as he'd always been fond of the camera.

Scorpius even managed to steal the show in the picture where Hermione was expecting Lyra. Although Lyra had to chuckle as her then five year old brother rubbed Hermione's large stomach and placed kisses on it for his little sister.

"He was always doing that," Narcissa said. "He spent half the pregnancy talking to you."

"So he wasn't upset to get a little sibling?" Lyra checked, even though growing up she'd never gotten the impression that Scorpius hadn't wanted her in his life.

"No, he was thrilled," Narcissa replied. "He couldn't wait for you to be born."

And the next picture showed Lyra just how excited her brother was with her arrival. Since she was born near the beginning of the year, she was almost one before she made her appearance on the Christmas picture, and rather than being held by her parents, she was on the floor with Scorpius. Scorpius had his arms around her and helping her to her feet, he turned her in the direction of the camera and the pair waved happily, before Lyra dropped back down on her backside, taking her brother with her.

Looking at the other pictures of when they were little, Lyra was touched to find that in all of them, Scorpius was right by her side. In every picture her brother was beside her, and he always looked to be so happy just being next to her. Of course as they got older, they didn't play around the way they had in earlier pictures, but Lyra noted that even as teenagers they tended to stand next to one another.

"I've never noticed before, but we're always together," Lyra remarked to her grandmother.

"Isn't that the way it should be?" Narcissa checked. "Surely it's better to get along with your brother than to be at each others throats all the time."

"I suppose it is," Lyra agreed as she turned to the next batch of pictures.

The next batch showed both her and Scorpius growing up and leaving Hogwarts, but again Lyra noted that they were always together in the pictures. Although she was convinced that would change once Lily came into the pictures and she flicked through the cards until she found the picture taken three years ago, which marked Lily's arrival as a Malfoy. In the picture her brother had his arm wrapped around his wife, but standing on his other side was Lyra. It seemed that even Lily, and the love Scorpius had for his wife, couldn't dent the bond he shared with his baby sister.

"This years will be the best of them all," Narcissa said as she gathered the last few cards from her granddaughter and placed them back in the box. "This year will be the first card to feature my adorable great-grandson."

"I'm sure Leo will steal the show," Lyra agreed with a grin. She loved her little nephew, and already suspected he had inherited some of his father's desire to always be in the limelight.

"I'm sure he will," Narcissa chuckled, carefully closing the lid on the box and storing it on a nearby bookshelf until she had time to return it to its rightful place in her bedroom.

Not wanting to delay the picture taking and endure Hermione's wrath, the two witches headed down to join their family. When they entered the ball room where the picture was going to be taken, they found the tree had been moved and was framed wonderfully by the large window and the picturesque scene outside.

"Just in time," Draco called from where he was setting up the camera. "Get yourself set. I'm nearly ready."

Narcissa immediately headed to Lucius's side and snuggled up to her husband in the centre of the picture. Leaving room for her father, Lyra stood herself beside Hermione, with Scorpius, Lily and Leo over the other side of the picture.

"What are you doing down there, Lyra?" Scorpius called. "Come over here."

As Draco set the camera to magically take their picture, a smiling Lyra moved across to join her brother. But of course the star of the show was young Leo who was looking adorable in his mother's arms, dressed in his reindeer suit.

A few days later when she saw the lovely festive picture and the printed cards, Lyra promised herself that it was a tradition that would endure for the Malfoy family. Gathering the whole family for a picture was the perfect way to send Christmas greetings, and it left a lasting memento for the family, including those still to come.

**The End.**


End file.
